


Being Famous Sucks

by Input_Error



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, M/M, a little bit of neglect/emotional child abuse towards keith and shiro in regards to their father?, basically keith and shiro's dad is famous so they are too, famous au, how does one even tag things?, klance and lotura are background ships, mainly shatt focused, mostly shiro centric, oh yeah shiro and keith are half brothers in this btw, sorry for how messy these tags are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-04 15:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14596122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Input_Error/pseuds/Input_Error
Summary: (DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE)Shiro and Keith have been acting since their early teenage years and now, nearly ten years later, they're household names. But they'll be the first to tell you that fame isn't everything. Especially when your entire life is public and you kind of have feelings for guys.





	1. Chapter 1

_What is it like to be famous?_ Shiro had been taught in the twenty years of living with his father- an incredibly famous actor- that the question was asked everywhere; red carpets, award shows, interviews, by fans, just _everywhere_. He had also learned that the answer to that question in public varied greatly from his own personal opinions and beliefs. The media didn’t care about Shiro’s answers. They cared about the public’s reaction to Shiro’s answers. And believe it or not, _‘Being famous sucks. 0/10 would not recommend. Furthermore, no.’,_ was typically viewed as a problematic way to answer the infamous question. So instead, Shiro put on a falsely cheery grin and answered the question as humbly as he could. Each and every time he was asked the same _damn_ question, he’d mumble something stupid and shy sounding like ‘Jeez, I dunno,’ and throw in a dumb blush or something he knew would be making girls and guys alike swoon for the next few months. But in private, Shiro knew _exactly_ how he felt about the fame. He _hated_ it with every bone in his body.

Shiro had been 5 when his grandfather sadly passed away of a heart attack. Shiro had been a bit too young to understand the foster care system, but he was plenty old enough to understand that the foster care system was likely where he was headed. As far as Shiro knew, he hadn’t had any living family. Growing up, Shiro didn’t even know he had a father, let alone one who was the face on every magazine at every grocery market everywhere. All Shiro knew was that his granddad and the small life they shared together in an apartment had come to an abrupt end. Even years after his grandfather had died, it was hard for Shiro to accept the fact that he was ‘going home’ to his father. For all the emotions Shiro felt, it had always seemed like he had left his true home behind at age 5.

Although Shiro hadn’t understood it at the time, his father had a habit of sleeping with a bunch of women. Shiro was the result of one such accident and his younger half-brother, Keith, was the result of another such accident. To Shiro’s knowledge, there were likely many more children that were from his father’s numerous one night stands. Also to Shiro’s knowledge, most were kept secret and became a pawn in hush-money schemes. Though Shiro had idolized his father growing up, he’d come to realize the only reason that his father had claimed Keith and Shiro was because of the scandals going public. Growing up beside Keith, who was five years younger than Shiro, it became quickly apparent that the two were supposed to follow in their father’s footsteps and become famous in the industry. Shiro was shoved into acting at fifteen, as soon as he was able to be marketable towards tween and teen girls, and Keith followed not far behind Shiro with his debut in a big film being at the age of thirteen. The Kogane-Shirogane boys were a household name by now with Shiro being twenty five and Keith nearing his twentieth birthday. But Shiro and Keith both knew first-hand how stressful a career in acting could be. Especially a career in acting neither of them really wanted.

.

A day before Keith’s birthday, their father miraculously found time to call a ‘family meeting’ in the penthouse living area. By ‘family meeting’ he typically meant ‘I’m going to yell at one or both of you and you’re going to sit there and nod silently in apology’. It turned out that Shiro’s guess was correct after not even one sentence was spoken. The look on his father’s face was stern, angry, confused, and unforgiving. Luckily, he didn’t seem angry at Shiro. Unluckily, it looked like he was trying to turn Keith to dust with his glare. Just from the look of the tension in Keith’s shoulders, Shiro could guess immediately what the sour mood was about.

“Keith,” Their father began in a terse tone. Anyone who didn’t know their dad personally would think that he was doing an excellent job of staying calm. But Shiro saw how he was just itching to slap Keith. Hell, depending on however Keith responded, he likely would. “Keith, please explain to me why every newspaper, magazine, and media outlet that should be promoting your brother’s new movie has a picture of what appears to be you and some _male_ college student kissing?”

 _Oh,_ Shiro thought. _Not good._ Shiro had known Keith was gay since Keith was twelve and had come out to him. He’d known about Lance- the college student that was actually Keith’s boyfriend and had been for two months- for the two months since Keith asked him out and wouldn’t shut up about him. But Shiro had been right alongside Keith in praying that their father would never find out. It seemed like there wasn’t a God after all.

“Why?” Keith huffed out a breath and Shiro knew that whatever Keith said next was definitely going to be stupid and impulsive enough to get him slapped. “Probably because he’s my boyfriend, he’s in college, and- Oh yeah, forgot to mention- I’m gay.”

Shiro waited for the loud crash of his father hitting Keith, but it never came. Instead, he began pacing and mumbling.

“Dad?” Shiro said, seeming to only grab half of his father’s attention. “If you’re worried about the movie’s publicity, I’m sure it’ll all turn out fine. That movie is already projected to generate a bunch of revenue just because my name is in it.” However stupidly logical it sounded, Shiro knew it would help to calm their father. That was always Shiro’s role, it seemed. Keith was the wild child and Shiro was the golden boy who extended the olive branch.

Their dad smiled slightly up at Shiro. “I know your movie will do great, Takashi. That’s not so much what I’m worried about. The problem is that homosexuality is still a hot topic and people will end up boycotting the movie if we are supportive or if we claim to disagree with his… _Choices_.”

Shiro really couldn’t help himself from interjecting. “Dad, Keith isn’t _choosing_ to be gay.”

His father rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay, sure. Quit it with your progressive advocate garbage. That shit works on teenage girls, not me.”

Keith looked ready to say something but Shiro quickly put his hand over Keith’s shoulder to remind him to hold back. This wasn’t a fight worth picking with their father.  Shiro attempted to calm their father again. “Either way, I say we be supportive and make Keith’s boyfriend more involved with the media if he’ll allow it. With the attention this is garnering, don’t you think it’s the smart move? Everyone will want to know the boy Keith is dating. Why not turn it into a publicity stunt?” Only Keith noticed the way Shiro cringed at his own wording. But again he knew it was something their dad would understand and respond to.

“You have a point,” their father said begrudgingly. He began to walk away, but not before he called over his shoulder, “Keith, get your boyfriend to do some interviews with the press. Make it seem almost purposeful. If we pull this the right way, people might question whether you’re actually gay or just doing it for attention. Then we’ll go and get you a publicity girlfriend or something. Make you seem bisexual at least or whatever the hell you kids call that shit nowadays.”

Shiro clamped a hand over Keith’s mouth as soon as their father turned away; he knew Keith’s self-control had worn dangerously thin. When Shiro released his little brother, Keith quickly whipped around to face him.

“I’m not doing jack shit to make that asshole look better,” he growled.

“Come on, Keith. Lance is a musical theater major, right? Won’t he benefit from the attention?” Shiro asked.

“Yeah, just to get crushed in a week when dad finds someone to play the part of my girlfriend,” Keith sneered. “I can’t believe him. I figured when he found out it wouldn’t be pretty, but… I didn’t think he’d be such an ignorant jerk.” Shiro nodded in agreement as Keith continued, “I know this isn’t my place to ask, but… When are _you_ going to come out to dad?”

Shiro had known that he was gay by the time he turned 10. His grandfather had always been incredibly open about introducing him to multiple points of view, and as such, Shiro knew right away that he was more interested in boys than girls. It wasn’t really a topic Shiro thought about in depth until his life went public. He was completely aware that the target audience for most things he was in as a teenager was to garner female views even though he wasn’t interested in females whatsoever. And he also knew that to come out to the media would be to forfeit his father’s career. So, he just buried it inside of himself. It wasn’t like he was being forced into any relationships at the age of 15. In fact, it was much easier to avoid dating altogether since his demographic preferred him single.

Shiro shrugged in response to his brother’s question, turning his gaze to the shiny wooden floors of the apartment. “If I play my cards right, never.” He meant it as a joke but something deep inside of him wished that his answer was truly an option.

“You can’t just pretend to be straight forever,” Keith laughed, trying to lighten the mood. “People are already starting to speculate you and Allura Altea are dating in secret due to all the dates dad has sent you two on. I know that pisses you off.”

It was true. His father had been trying to set Shiro up with Allura for years now. Her father owned a rather famous dance studio known for winning national titles and Allura was shaping up to be an amazing dancer as well as a director. Many people thought that an acting and directing couple was just what the world wanted. But unfortunately for the world and their parents, neither of them wanted to be with each other. Allura knew that Shiro was gay, and even if he wasn’t, Allura was seeing a famous dancer by the name of Lotor who rehearsed in her father’s studio. They might have looked like they were made for each other, but in reality they were anything but. Plus, there was another predicament by the name of Matthew Holt.

Matt had been a friend of Shiro’s since preschool. Even after fame, Shiro had looked Matt’s name up in a phonebook and tried his best to stay in touch. But by the time Shiro had reached 16, the two had seemingly drifted apart. They hadn’t gotten into a fight or anything. Their conversations just slowly faded out of existence. A month ago, Shiro was shocked to be approached by a technical intern on the set of his recent acting project. He was a solid 5 inches shorter than Shiro and had a slight muscular build to his otherwise tall and thin stature. However different he may have looked in body, Shiro recognized the amber eyes even without his trademark glasses. The boy was Matt Holt, the boy that Shiro was just starting to realize he had totally had a crush on. He was also the boy that Shiro found himself a month later _still_ having a crush on.

 Shiro brought his head back up from where he’d been staring at the floor to look at Keith more directly. “Whether what dad says pisses me off or not isn’t the point,” he responded easily. “I’m supposed to be the angel kid, remember? That doesn’t leave much room for running off with boys and ignoring the fact that to the media, it’s important I remain straight.”

Keith started laughing. “You can turn off your robot mode, Takashi. I’m not dad, remember?” He stopped to regain his composure. Once he trusted himself enough to be serious again, he continued. “Sure it’s important that you remain straight to preserve your carefully cultivated ‘image’, but think about it. Do you really want to make Allura ‘Mrs. Shirogane’?”

Shiro actually cringed at the idea. “No,” he said miserably. Keith visibly perked up as if he was surprised with Shiro’s immediate response.

“Then you don’t have to be. If you want to fuck Matthew Holt-“

“No one said _anything_ about me ‘fucking’ anyone,” Shiro quickly interjected. “Let alone Matt of all people.”

Keith shook his head, a smile on his face that screamed that he knew a lot more than Shiro thought he did. “Of all people?” Keith shrugged. “I’ve seen the way you sneak him up to the apartment when you know the media’s attention is elsewhere. I’ve seen the way you look at him, Shiro. You deserve to be happy.”

“Yeah, well Matt deserves to be happy too,” Shiro said sullenly. “And whether it kills me or not, he’d be happier with me if I could leave this whole acting thing behind and live a normal life with him.”

“So?” Keith said. “Do it. Quit acting, use your money to move far away from Los Angeles, and buy a nice house for the two of you. Get a college education in engineering. Do something you actually see yourself doing in another twenty years.”

Shiro rolled his eyes. “Really? We both know that both of us are too far under dad’s thumb to get away with that.”

“We’re both over 18, Shiro. Dad can’t do anything to keep us here,” Keith pointed out.

Shiro laughed a sad laugh. “The media will want answers. We won’t be left alone. It’s impossible, Keith. You should know that first hand.”

“It’s not impossible,” Keith insisted. “I know _that_ first hand.”

“Really?” Shiro deadpanned. “And how, Mr. Wise Guy?”

Keith put on a smirk that showed Shiro that Keith had been planning something for a while now. And that something was about to come to fruition.

“You probably haven’t noticed that my room here is rather nonexistent now,” he began. “For the past month I’ve been slowly moving my stuff out of here and into an apartment I got a month and a half ago. I met Lance two months ago when I was scouting out the college he goes to. I’m enrolled there now too and I start tomorrow. I’m leaving.”

Shiro’s eyes went wide. “That’s impossible, Keith. You can’t do that. You know how long I’ve tried-“

“ _That’s_ your problem,” Keith said, and for the first time Shiro realized that Keith held a backpack with presumably the rest of his belongings on his back. “You say you’ve been trying, but in truth you just haven’t been trying hard enough.” And with that piece of profound advice, Keith walked past Shiro and headed to the apartment door. “If dad asks where I went, just tell him out.”

Shiro thought that after Keith closed the apartment door behind him, he’d feel empty inside. But he didn’t. A part of him still felt like Keith was in the house. After growing up 20 years together, it felt like Keith couldn’t just leave for a college two hours away. But Shiro knew that Keith wasn’t bluffing. Keith said he was leaving and Shiro believed him. However much Shiro tried to make himself believe his little brother was in his room brooding like usual, he knew he was deluding himself.

It was a subconscious thing, Shiro taking out his phone. He didn’t even know what he was doing until he was pacing in the living area with his cell phone to his ear.  But the voice on the other line was clear when the hello rang in his numb ears.

“Matt,” he found himself saying. “Mind if I spend the night?”


	2. IMPORTANT: Author's Note

Due to my personal dislike for this fanfiction's current lack of plot ideas and coherent backstory, I am going to be completely rewriting this fanfiction in it's entirety in private. Once I finish it, if I ever get around to finishing it, then I will post it. So this fanfiction will be discontinued until further notice. I won't be deleting this one until I have finished and posted the rewrite. Thank you for your patience!

**Author's Note:**

> You know that project I said I was working on 50 million years ago at the end of 'Who am I to You'? Yeah, surprise! Here it is! As always, the best way to ask me questions or give feedback is on here, but if you want a more private place, my writing email is lukewritessometimes@gmail.com. Feel free to shoot me a message on here to make sure I got your email if you send one because I really hate checking my email so I usually just don't. Thanks!


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